1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a grommet wherein the screw can be partially inserted or pre-driven into an aperture with outwardly adjacent peripheral boss segments about the mouth of the aperture which are intended to extend through the aperture of a panel to be engaged. As the screw is fully driven, the chamfer of the screw urges the boss segments outwardly to engage the panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, grommets can require several steps for installation which can complicate an assembly process. For instance, if the grommet requires that a screw be inserted after the grommet has contacted the panel to be engaged, rather than before such contact, then an extra step is included in the assembly process in that a screw must be picked from stock on the assembly line and inserted into a torque driver. This furthermore adds the screw as an additional part to inventory. While grommets with partially driven screws can be used to engage keyhole slots in the secondary panel, this can be likewise disadvantageous in that a keyhole slot rather than a round aperture is required in the secondary panel and further requires separate forward and downward motions for installation, which is not always possible in confined spaces, such as would be encountered in automotive applications.
Examples of prior art in this field include U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,419 entitled "Part-Fixing Clip" issued on Mar. 26, 1985 to Mitomi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,030 entitled "Plastic Screw Grommet" issued on Apr. 4, 1978 to Erickson; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,300 issued on Mar. 7, 1978 to Yoda.